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Is this now the norm?


welsh1
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Got a letter from my firearms dept today, looks like they are not getting on top of things even though on last renewal i renewed early on their advice to speed up processing by spreading their load .
Is this now the norm? are section 7's no longer issued?

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Had the same sort of letter over here in Kent. As you applied early they are giving you a further 8 weeks beyond your certificate expiry date. This covers their & your bum in the event they dont manage to complete by the date on your licence.

In my case they processed it all fairly quickly and the new licence came through 6 weeks before the old one was due to expire. As Tightchoke said; for reasons only known to themselves they never seem very keen to issue a Sect 7.

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26 minutes ago, JJsDad said:

Had the same sort of letter over here in Kent. As you applied early they are giving you a further 8 weeks beyond your certificate expiry date. This covers their & your bum in the event they dont manage to complete by the date on your licence.

In my case they processed it all fairly quickly and the new licence came through 6 weeks before the old one was due to expire. As Tightchoke said; for reasons only known to themselves they never seem very keen to issue a Sect 7.

I would think a section 7 issue would be recorded in official stats showing them failing to meet their targets, a letter on the other hand won't be recorded, so it looks like they are meeting their targets.
All it does is mask the problem.

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11 hours ago, lancer425 said:

Care to hazard a guess why they are so reluctant.

Kent had terrible backlog 5 years ago and despite seeking advice from BASC, my local FEO and the head of Kent Firearms Dept and applying for my renewal 12 weeks before expiry, my licence was not renewed until 7 weeks after its run-out date. My repeated phone calls to my FEO were met by the response that it was a Kent Firearms causing the problem as they wouldnt authorize overtime or weekend working and were having difficulty recruiting new staff. About 2 weeks before my licence expired I managed after a bit of being messed about to get the head of firearms on the phone. I virtually demanded a Sect 7 to keep me legal. The response was that all staff were fully tied up  with renewals and initial grants and taking people off that work to issue Sect 7s would cause further delay. I was assured that if they did not manage to re-new by my expiry date I was still legal !!!! and did not need to transfer my guns to an RFD or friend while waiting for the re-newal. I insisted that his department were causing me to be break the law but he fobbed me off with weasal words that even if stopped with a gun in the car in another county there wouldnt be a problem. Thankfully they now seem to be getting their act together and my application in mid Sept 2019  resulted in a new certificate coming through by early December.

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Humberside are not super quick but i never needed to look at any section 7s etc. I know mates in South yorkshire area say  they  are reluctant to issue section 7s, i can think of two who have needed them over the years and no fault of the certificate holders..  Just trying to work out why they dont like issuing these in some areas not others.

Do you know what?  This whole licensing thing needs a big shake up, no two areas are the same. 

As i remember it was it not mentioned a few years ago by BASC that licencing be taken from the police altogether. ? can any others remember this idea.

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17 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Most authorities have always been loath to issue section 7s

 

14 hours ago, lancer425 said:

True , But i never understood  WHY.  Care to hazard a guess why they are so reluctant.

I have been a SGC holder in Kent and Cambridgeshire, Kent used to say it stops the department doing renewals!

2 hours ago, JJsDad said:

Kent had terrible backlog 5 years ago and despite seeking advice from BASC, my local FEO and the head of Kent Firearms Dept and applying for my renewal 12 weeks before expiry, my licence was not renewed until 7 weeks after its run-out date. My repeated phone calls to my FEO were met by the response that it was a Kent Firearms causing the problem as they wouldnt authorize overtime or weekend working and were having difficulty recruiting new staff. About 2 weeks before my licence expired I managed after a bit of being messed about to get the head of firearms on the phone. I virtually demanded a Sect 7 to keep me legal. The response was that all staff were fully tied up  with renewals and initial grants and taking people off that work to issue Sect 7s would cause further delay. I was assured that if they did not manage to re-new by my expiry date I was still legal !!!! and did not need to transfer my guns to an RFD or friend while waiting for the re-newal. I insisted that his department were causing me to be break the law but he fobbed me off with weasal words that even if stopped with a gun in the car in another county there wouldnt be a problem. Thankfully they now seem to be getting their act together and my application in mid Sept 2019  resulted in a new certificate coming through by early December.

Oh yes that sounds awfully familiar. 

I guess one day someone will cry foul and have enough money to go down the legal route, because you can bet your life none of our paid representative bodies will ever get their collective ***** in gear to sort it all out!

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This amendment to the Firearms Act was introduced by the government on 17th April 2018, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0142018-limited-extension-of-validity-of-firearm-and-shotgun-certificates/circular-0142018-firearms-limited-extension-of-validity-of-firearm-and-shotgun-certificates

You really need to keep up to date with the Firearms Act chaps !!

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My first renewal with dyfed Powys was abysmally slow and went about 4 months beyond my expiry buy to be fair to West Mercia they've been sharp with everything they've done for me. The longest I've waited was about 7 weeks for a variation 1 because it was an unusual request and the girls in the office couldn't process it without a visit and 2 my FEO had been off following some surgery for 7 weeks and so he ended up with a back log.

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I fall under Gwent police. Put application in in plenty of time etc., but no new certs arrived before my old ones expired. I chased them a day or two before expiry and they said new certs were printed and would be posted soon. I asked for a section 7, and they said they wouldn't issue one as my new certs showed as granted and live on their systems... New ones eventually arrived three or four days after the old ones expired, don't think I went shooting until the new ones arrived, just to be sure.

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23 minutes ago, sandspider said:

I fall under Gwent police. Put application in in plenty of time etc., but no new certs arrived before my old ones expired. I chased them a day or two before expiry and they said new certs were printed and would be posted soon. I asked for a section 7, and they said they wouldn't issue one as my new certs showed as granted and live on their systems... New ones eventually arrived three or four days after the old ones expired, don't think I went shooting until the new ones arrived, just to be sure.

They should have sent you a letter extending your existing certs. I believe this is how it works now. Your old certs will be extended by a maximum of 8 weeks or until the new ones drop on the mat. Provided your application was received in good time (8 weeks I think).

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